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Ryu day to day after exiting with right leg strain

Lefty doesn't think injury is serious, but unsure if he can make next start

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Ryu exits with injury 1:49

8/13/14: Hyun-Jin Ryu leaves his start in the 6th inning after he appears to tweak the back of his right leg

By Joe Morgan
/
MLB.com |

ATLANTA -- Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu exited during the sixth inning of Wednesday night's 3-2 loss against the Braves due to a right gluteus muscle strain and is listed as day to day.

Ryu came up lame after walking B.J. Upton with two outs in the sixth, but the lefty said the injury is not too serious and did not involve his hamstring.

"He was missing a couple of pitches there, where he looked a little bit funny," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "Actually, before that pitch, [pitching coach Rick Honeycutt] was like, 'Is he all right?' We were keeping an eye on him, and then all of a sudden, right after that pitch."

"People on the bench said they noticed stuff, but for me personally on my end, everything looked the same," catcher A.J. Ellis added. "I just noticed as soon as he threw that last changeup to B.J., he immediately called to the bench for somebody to come out and I knew that's never a good thing."

As Ryu delivered ball four to Upton, he turned toward the Dodgers' dugout and motioned for assistance. Mattingly and a trainer came out to check on Ryu, who exited not long after speaking to the trainer and moving his leg up and down.

"I felt fine through the whole game except when I was facing B.J. Upton," Ryu said through a translator. "I felt it four pitches before I walked him, but I thought it was nothing serious, so I thought I could pitch out of it, but it just kept getting worse and worse. I regret that I didn't stop it right then."

Ryu exited the game after 5 2/3 innings for his shortest outing since lasting only 2 1/3 frames against the Tigers on July 8. Jamey Wright came on in relief of the southpaw and struck out Ryan Doumit to end the inning.

Kevin Correia is a likely rotation replacement should Ryu miss time, but Mattingly said the team has yet to discuss what the club will do if Ryu is not ready when his next turn in the rotation comes along.

"There's a little concern because it's a new area that's never bothered me before," Ryu said through a translator. "So right now, the only thing I want to do is sleep through and see how I feel tomorrow morning."

"I'd just be guessing," Mattingly said, when asked if Ryu could make his next start. "Any time a guy comes off like that that quickly and kind of waves for the dugout, to think that five days later he's going to be pitching, I'd just be guessing."

Joe Morgan is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.